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The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7952748" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 73: THINK POSITIVE</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Darrien, half-elf ranger 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Gilbert Fung, human wizard 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Hagan, half-orc sorcerer 19</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Aithanar Ivenheart, elven fighter 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Malrin Ivenheart, elf druid 14</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> MARCI, humanoid construct</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 28 March 2020</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Gilbert Fung woke with a startled scream when the stone wall of his bedchamber on the second floor of the northwestern tower of Battershield Keep was smashed in. Chunks of stone crashed onto the floor, the front of which collapsed into the room beneath it - Binkadink's. The noise was loud enough to awaken all of the heroes asleep in the two northern towers.</p><p></p><p>But not everyone in Gilbert's room was asleep. Mudpie, Gilbert's earth elemental familiar, was currently the size of a small pebble and sat unmoving on the top of the desk by Gilbert's bed, watching over his master as he had slept. And standing in the corner, MARCI had been in the middle of an internal diagnostic check when the wall went crashing in. She sent her red beam scanning over the massive hand that reached into the room, grabbed up the <em>Heward's handy haversack</em> propped on the desk, and started to retreat back with its prize. "Non-human entity," the medical construct identified.</p><p></p><p>"You think?" replied Gilbert facetiously as he rolled off the side of the bed and onto the floor, shielding his head as best he could with his arm from the dislodged rubble falling from the ceiling.</p><p></p><p>In the room directly above him, Darrien leapt off his bed and grabbed for his bow and his tower shield. The latter, fortunately, had been enchanted with a <em>dancing</em> property so it leapt upright of its own accord once activated and followed the ranger's movements, leaving both of his hands free to slide an arrow into his <em>Arachnibow</em>. The bottom part of the half-elf's front wall was missing and from the moon's light he could see the enormous, armored torso of what must be a giant standing just outside the tower. The giant said something in his own guttural language - Darrien didn't speak Giant, so he had no idea what might have been said - and then the archer shot down through the gap into the giant's breast.</p><p></p><p>In the top room of the northeastern tower, Aithanar Ivenheart was jolted out of his nightly reverie at the sound of the wall collapsing one tower over. He dashed to his feet while across from him an owl looked up from her perch. This was no pet, however, but Aithanar's older sister Malrin, a druid who spent much of her time in owl form. Aithanar grabbed up his longsword and raced downstairs to see what was going on, Malrin flapping behind him. By the time they got to the bottom floor, Hagan had opened the door to the Battershield Keep courtyard. The massive, wooden drawbridge was still in its raised position and the portcullis was down, so nothing had made it inside the keep's interior - that was good. But stepping into the courtyard, Hagan looked up at the rooftop of his own tower and decided to get a better view. Casting the words to a <em>teleport</em> spell, he and Wezhley - his weasel familiar, alert and awake in his traditional spot on the half-orc's left shoulder - appeared on the tower and Hagan looked down to see not one, but two dark-skinned giants standing at the front of Battershield Keep. One had apparently just grabbed something from inside the northwestern tower and was showing it to his partner, who stood just before the raised drawbridge; both were on the inside of the keep's moat. But they looked to stand about 25 feet tall, easily large enough to cross the 10-foot span of the moat in a single step.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink dodged falling rocks from Gilbert's crumbling floor and activated his own <em>dancing tower shield</em> before grabbing up his trusty glaive. The top half of his front wall was missing and he could see a giant of some sort standing just outside. Clambering up the pile of broken stone to the hole in the front wall, he stabbed out with his glaive at the giant, the act setting his split blade reverberating and powering it up to overcome the potential resistances of whatever foe he might be facing.</p><p></p><p>In the courtyard, Obvious woke with a start at the sudden noise and, looking around and seeing no immediate danger, hippity-hopped up the stairs along the eastern wall of the keep to reach the battlements. Then he scampered up to the front, coming to a stop beside Hagan. "What's going on?" the jackalope asked the sorcerer, and Hagan had gotten accustomed enough to the antlered rabbit's power of speech that it no longer startled him. "We're under attack by a pair of some kind of giant," he explained. As to where these giants might have come from, that was patently obvious to the half-orc, whose darkvision allowed him to see with perfect clarity the mountain-top parked in front of the keep. That certainly hadn't been there yesterday, he realized, but he set aside potential explanations as to its sudden appearance to deal with the crisis at hand.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert had seen the giant's hand grab up his magical haversack and knew he had to get it back: his <em>Omnibook</em> was inside its extradimensional storage space, the tome that served not only as his personal spellbook but also his reference library and handy scroll storage area! But that in itself was a simple process; casting a <em>limited wish</em>, the <em>Heward's handy haversack</em> disappeared from the eldritch giant's hand and reappeared in Gilbert's. Shrugging it over his shoulder, Gilbert followed up with a <em>quickened wall of force</em> blocking his room off from the hole in the wall leading to the outside air. Of course, having smashed one hole in the wall to get to Gilbert's haversack, it would be simple enough for the giant to make another such hole, but Gilbert wasn't planning on hanging around long enough for that to be a concern for him. He snatched up Mudpie and dropped him into a pocket of his robe, then felt around to make sure he had his <em>slingshot of rock shrinking</em> at hand.</p><p></p><p>A snarl of rage indicated the giant outside Gilbert's tower had realized the haversack was gone; he tentatively reached into the room again and felt the smooth, solid surface of the <em>wall of force</em> blocking his way. That caused another growl of anger as he explained what had happened to his partner. The other giant reached up and tugged at the top of the keep's drawbridge, snapping the heavy steel chains holding it in place and pulling the whole thing down, then ripping the portcullis away and flinging it contemptuously on the ground behind him. The drawbridge lay in its lowered position across the moat, access to the keep's interior now as simple as stepping inside.</p><p></p><p>Finoula stepped out of the northeastern tower, her longsword <em>Tahlmalaera</em> in her right hand and her <em>flaming burst whip of thorns</em> in her left. Through the open entryway she could see the eldritch giant standing before the northwestern tower, a massive bastard sword in his hand, and she blinked in momentary confusion - what exactly was going on here? Why were they under attack?</p><p></p><p>At about this time, the confusion of the situation was compounded when all at once the <em>opal frog</em>, <em>giant mantis</em>, and <em>ebony fly</em> manifested inside Darrien's room, while on one floor lower Gilbert's twin <em>foo lions</em> similarly came to life. Each creature attacked its erstwhile master, although they were all severely hampered by the close quarters in which they found themselves - the bedrooms weren't big enough for this type of combat!</p><p></p><p>"Make sure Helga's okay!" Finoula called to Aithanar and the elven fighter ran to obey. Helga Battershield was all alone in the southeastern tower, he knew, her husband Aerik having decided to spend some time with the men at the garrison in which the mercenary "Slayer" - in truth Galrich, the former King of Kordovia - was stationed. Aerik had wanted to ensure the recent restoration of Galrich's mental faculties was taking permanent hold and the half-orc barbarian was having no undue side effects from the demon-granted <em>wish</em> spell that had recently wiped away the senility starting to take hold of his mind. Malrin flew to the top of the northeastern tower to see what was going on, landing upon the battlements beside Obvious. She couldn't speak while in owl form but she could see just fine the pair of giants standing outside the keep.</p><p></p><p>Darrien shot a <em>web</em> arrow at the floor of his room, encompassing his activated <em>figurines of wondrous power</em> in its sticky strands. Then he grabbed up his <em>cloak of the white spider</em>, pulled it on, and used the <em>spider climb</em> ability it granted its wearer to crawl out of the hole at the bottom of his front wall and clamber up to the rooftop, where he pulled himself up and over the battlements. Then, placing another arrow into his <em>Arachnibow</em>, he sent it flying down at the eldritch giant standing directly below him.</p><p></p><p>Over on the other front rooftop, Hagan sent a <em>meteor swarm</em> spell screaming down at the giant who had pulled down the drawbridge. The four meteors each struck the giant without fail, but the fiery blasts that exploded outward from the points of impact not only reached the other giant (which was good) but Binkadink as well (which was not as good - Hagan hadn't seen the gnome step out of the hole in his wall and thus hadn't activated the pair of rings they wore, which would have shielded the fighter from the effects of the sorcerer's spell). And Binkadink, having leaped into battle wearing only his sleeping garments, was not wearing the red dragonhide armor which would have likewise shielded him from most of the damage from the flames. As a result, the <em>meteor swarm</em> did significant damage to both giants, but quite a bit to the little gnome as well.</p><p></p><p>Undeterred, Binkadink swung his glaive at the giant before him, hoping to take advantage of the giant's distraction at having been singed so badly, but the attack seemed to do no damage; Binkadink himself had been badly singed by the spell and that might have been the cause of his uncharacteristically weakened strike.</p><p></p><p>Obvious saw his rider in dire straits down below and scampered at a full sprint back across the battlements to the rear of the keep, to the stone steps leading back down to the courtyard. He saw Gilbert Fung suddenly appear on the rooftop of the one-story building in the back of the keep, situated between the back towers; the wizard had just cast a <em>dimension door</em> spell to get him and Mudpie out of his sealed-off bedroom. He wasn't worried about MARCI; she could fend off the foo lions if they tried to attack her, which he doubted in any case - they had both immediately turned against him. Instead, he focused his attention on loading Mudpie into his magic slingshot and firing him at the ground below. Upon impact, Mudpie was restored to his 16-foot combat size and loomed before his master, ready to stop any giant who might try to approach. He didn't see either giant try to get inside the keep just yet - they were apparently being kept rather busy by the heroes at the front of the keep - but with his darkvision he saw the sudden sinking into the ground before him of a pair of large ovals, almost as if a great weight had suddenly been placed there. Mudpie realized the oval shapes were easily about the same size and shape as a pair of footprints made by either of the giants outside the keep...likely indicating the presence of a third such giant, this one <em>invisible</em>. He instantly relayed this information to his master over the empathic link they shared.</p><p></p><p>At the front of the keep, the two quite-visible eldritch giants roared in anger and pain and retaliated against their attackers. One sent his bastard sword swinging up at Darrien, catching him a quite damaging blow that sent him reeling, while the other took his vengeance on Hagan. But rather than use his sword, the giant merely reached up with a meaty fist, grabbed the half-orc sorcerer (causing Wezhley to leap off his master's shoulder in a panic), and threw him down onto the ground beside him with his full strength. Hagan felt the air explode out of his lungs upon impact and looked up at the massive giant towering above him, even now raising his booted foot to come crashing down on the half-orc - a move that would likely smash Hagan flat like a bug. But before the giant could do so, Hagan cast a <em>polar ray</em> spell up at him and then quickly rolled away, tipping over the edge of the moat and into the (hopefully) concealing waters. Wezhley, looking down in worry at his master, dropped down from the battlements and started running to the back of the keep, so he could make his way down the stairs to join back up with him.</p><p></p><p>Finoula couldn't see any of that from her perspective but she did have a good view of the other giant, so she used her <em>lightning amulet</em> so send herself blasting through him as a bolt of living electricity. When she reformed into her elven shape outside the keep, she saw the second eldritch giant for the first time and shook her head in disbelief - there were <em>twice</em> as many opponents as she had first thought! But as the giant staggered under Finoula's magical attack, Darrien was shooting arrows down at him as well. He was glad when he felt Malrin land upon his shoulder briefly in owl form and channel a healing spell through her talons during the brief contact; that was, in truth, well needed! And at the giant's feet, Binkadink attacked him with his glaive, his resolve restored (as well as his ability to deal massive damage with us weapon of choice).</p><p></p><p>Obvious scampered down the steps, nose twitching as he picked up an unfamiliar scent - he was smelling the presence of the invisible eldritch giant, <strong>Eldorath</strong>, standing before Mudpie after having cast a <em>dimension door</em> spell of his own to cross the distance in an instant. Gilbert, alerted to the unseen giant's presence by his faithful familiar, cast a <em>quickened fly</em> spell but before he could get into the air and behind the back wall of the keep Eldorath struck, his massive form coming into view as his bastard sword struck out and smashed into the wizard. But while the blow altered the wizard's aerial path somewhat, he did manage to fly over the back wall and then, out of range of sight of the giant, cast a <em>rope trick</em> spell in the air above him. Since it seemed these giants were after Gilbert's haversack - or, more likely, he realized, the <em>Omnibook</em> stored within - he'd see what they did if he went somewhere they couldn't follow! But immediately after having cast his spell, he ordered Mudpie to sink down into the earth below; he didn't want his familiar getting into a fight he likely couldn't win on his own. With a frown of disappointment, Mudpie did as his master had bid him.</p><p></p><p>Unable to see his target, Eldorath called forth a <em>flame strike</em> spell to come crashing down upon the human wizard - the eldritch giant cleric had seen the aerial path Gilbert had taken when flying over the back wall and had a good guess of his general whereabouts, so an area of effect spell was the way to go. Judging from Gilbert's cry of pain from behind the keep, he'd apparently guessed close enough.</p><p></p><p>At the front of the keep, both giants had decided to focus on Binkadink as he was right there on the ground with them. Finoula took the opportunity for another <em>lightning amulet</em> blast, this time pivoting into both of her targets and reappearing off to the front side of the keep. She didn't realize it, but she landed a mere yard or so beside another invisible creature, this one a hybrid creature from the Positive Energy Plane combining the traits of a ravid and a xeg-ya. It struck out at the surprised ranger with a pair of electrical rays coursing out from its incorporeal body; the rays crossed the planes to strike the ranger in the material world. Finoula spun to face this unseen attacker and was amazed as what she saw as it popped back into view, the <em>invisibility</em> spell wearing off at its attack. The creature had the appearance of a sinuous snake, its head draconic in form but more like the dragon they'd seen in Kozakura; it sported but a single, clawed hand and despite having no wings it hovered several feet off the ground. It hissed at her, the sound seeming almost like an electrical buzzing - but that might have been from the arcs of energy being generated from is serpentine back, even now forming back into whiplike rays like the ones that had just struck her.</p><p></p><p>Darrien shot another cluster of arrows down at the giant who had smashed through his tower wall; of the two, the ranger held the greatest dislike for that one, since it had smashed up part of his bedroom floor. Malrin took the opportunity to fly down and apply a quick healing spell onto Binkadink, who by this time was in bad shape, as hurt as the druid could ever recall having seen him. She opted to use her most powerful spell, a <em>heal</em> that sent positive energy coursing through the little gnome's compact body, regenerating burned flesh and knitting closed open cuts from the giants' swords. And then, no fool, she flew away and out of range of the giants' massive swords while Binkadink, with renewed vitality, sent his glaive stabbing into the giant directly before him.</p><p></p><p>Sputtering water from his lips, Hagan pulled himself up out of the moat and onto dry land, away from the keep. Then he targeted the giant who had threatened to stomp on him, blasting him with another <em>polar ray</em> spell. The giant was simultaneously under attack by Obvious, who brought his antlered head stabbing into the giant's legs as he turned to face his spellcasting attacker.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert, staggering from the <em>flame strike</em> spell, cast a <em>shapechange</em> spell on himself and flew off to the western side of the keep; it was a hefty human wizard who started the maneuver but a pit fiend who ended it. Eldorath cast another <em>quickened dimension door</em> and appeared in the spot Gilbert had just vacated, looked around for his foe, and spotted the pit fiend immediately. The giant had just tried taking out the <em>rope trick</em> spell with a <em>dispel magic</em> but had failed to overcome the wizard's spellcraft - apparently the owner of the coveted <em>Omnibook</em> was quite a powerful opponent indeed!</p><p></p><p>But by thus time, Eldorath's forces were themselves feeling much the worse for wear in this combat with these puny foes; who could have guessed they were so powerful themselves or equipped with so many magical weapons? The first giant activated a <em>dimension door</em> spell, opting to return to the mountain-top interior to heal up his wounds. If Eldorath wanted that damned book so bad he was welcome to fetch it himself - but it wasn't worth <strong>Arzulio</strong>'s life!</p><p></p><p>The other eldritch giant, <strong>Immoloth</strong>, attacked Binkadink again with his sword. He was surprised at the little gnome's restored vigor; was that owl that flitted by him some sort of secret source of healing or something? That was hardly fair! Behind him, Finoula attacked the extraplanar ravid with her sword and whip, but was surprised to see her weapons pass through the floating serpent-dragon's body with seemingly no effect. With a sigh of frustration, she realized she was up against an incorporeal being. And yet the thing seemed to have no trouble striking corporeal creatures, at least when using its electrical tentacle-things, as evidenced by another pair of attacks on the ranger before the ravid-beast floated off in the direction of Eldorath, perhaps the result of a mental call.</p><p></p><p>Having lost his primary target, Darrien started peppering Immoloth with his arrows. Malrin, seeing none of the heroes was currently in dire need of her healing spells, decided to help the team in a more offensive capability and wildshaped out of owl form and into the form of a tyrannosaurus rex. She bit at the startled giant, who had certainly not expected this kind of attack when he'd agreed to help Eldorath get that magical book he was so on about! And then, running up between the dinosaur's broad legs was that damned gnome and his damned polearm, even as the jackalope tried chewing through the giant's armor with its incisors. It, at least, wasn't having much success, but that didn't matter all that much - the other attacks were taking their toll and Immoloth had had enough; he <em>dimension doored</em> his way back inside their mountain-top base, to heal himself back up before he even thought about further combat.</p><p></p><p>Hagan cast another <em>polar ray</em> spell, this time trying to take out the weird, draconic snake that was floating over towards the back of the keep. He was disappointed to see his spell pass harmlessly through the thing's body and started running after it. But Finoula wasn't giving up on her own attacks, even though she knew many of them would pass through the thing's body; she paced the incorporeal creature as it flew towards the back, stabbing it with <em>Tahlmalaera</em> and sending her whip flicking in to strike it. Fortunately for the elven ranger, enough of her attacks connected that the serpentine thing writhed in sudden agony and collapsed to the ground, dead.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert, in pit fiend form, flew straight up until he was out of reach of Eldorath's bastard sword, although he noticed the giant also carried some sort of staff. But, deciding to put an end to the giant's <em>dimension door</em> capabilities, Gilbert cast a <em>dimensional anchor</em> spell at him, a slight, greenish glow all around Eldorath indicating the spell's success. Snarling in fury, the eldritch giant cleric pointed at Gilbert with his staff and channeled a <em>chain lightning</em> spell up at him. Fortunately for Gilbert, one of the many advantages of the pit fiend form (besides looking mighty damned impressive, he thought) was an inherent resistance to spells and in this case the electrical spell hit Gilbert full-on and fizzled away into nothingness. Eldorath snarled in fury, even more so when he realized the haversack had melded into the fat wizard's form when he'd taken on the devil's shape; he'd have to slay the human spellcaster to get him to resume his normal form before he could claim the prize stored within the extradimensional space of the pack.</p><p></p><p>Darrien was now all out of visible opponents to shoot. But there was some sort of commotion coming from behind the keep, so he spun about and raced along the battlements to go see what was going on back there. Malrin had a similar thought, but she bent her reptilian head down and snapped Finoula up into her mouth - quite carefully - and ran at full saurian speed to the back of the keep, where another of these purple-skinned giants was trying in vain to get a <em>chain lightning</em> spell to affect the pit fiend flying above, which Malrin knew must be Gilbert in a fiendish form. Binkadink hopped onto Obvious's back and the jackalope loped back into the courtyard of Battershield Keep, taking the steps up to the battlements and then a right along the back until he was about halfway between the two southern towers. Hagan took a more direct path, <em>teleporting</em> to the top of the southeastern roof, where he met up with Wezhley, who was very happy to be reunited with his master again. Hagan bent down to allow his weasel familiar to scamper up his arm and onto his shoulder, then looked over the rooftops below to see what they were up against.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert flew down and cast a <em>maximized vampiric touch</em> spell on Eldorath, taking a sword hit as the price for doing so but coming out very much on the better side of that deal, for the spell not only drained the giant of some of his life force but added it to Gilbert's own. At his master's silent bidding, Mudpie popped back up out of the ground; Gilbert wasn't quite sure how he was going to deploy his familiar yet but he felt better about doing so now that there were a bunch more heroes surrounding the eldritch giant: Mudpie wouldn't be Eldorath's primary target. The giant gave a final try at a <em>chain lightning</em> spell but it burned itself out harmlessly striking the pit fiend's protected form.</p><p></p><p>But then Finoula dropped out of the tyrannosaur's mouth, raced up, and sent <em>Tahlmalaera</em> in a lateral strike against the giant's leg while Darrien sent a wave of arrows down onto his head and his broad back. Malrin snapped at him with a head filled with teeth the size of short swords. And then from above, Obvious leapt off the top of the keep's battlements, landing gracefully behind the giant while Binkadink brought his glaive crashing down upon the enormous cleric. Eldorath staggered from the multi-pronged assault, then swung his own gigantic bastard sword in a flurry of strikes against Malrin, the biggest target before him and the easiest to hit. Deep furrows scored across her reptilian hide and she roared in pain, taking an involuntary step back away from the enraged giant.</p><p></p><p>Two rays flashed out at the giant: a <em>polar ray</em> from Hagan and a <em>ray of enfeeblement</em> from Gilbert. Both struck true and Eldorath roared in pain from the frigid attack and fury at the weakening of his massive muscles. But the attacks continued unabated, arrows from Darrien from above and sword-strikes from below from Finoula, while Malrin cast a much-needed <em>mass cure medium wounds</em> spell over the assembled heroes. Binkadink continued with his glaive-strikes while Obvious hippity-hopped around the flustered giant, allowing his rider to strike from wildly different directions in rapid sequence.</p><p></p><p>Starting to panic at the overwhelming assault, Eldorath made an all-out attack on Malrin again, trying to cut her down to stop the continued healing and also to get her out of his way, for he was ready for a tactical retreat back to his flying mountain-top. Gilbert further weakened him with an additional <em>ray of enfeeblement</em> spell, as weapons struck the giant from all directions and Hagan sent another <em>polar ray</em> striking him in the head. Malrin ran off to the side to heal herself but the others carried on with the attack, until a final stab from Binkadink's extended glaive pierced Eldorath's body and brought him crashing to the ground, dead.</p><p></p><p>With their last available foe slain, Gilbert landed back on the ground beside Eldorath and picked up the giant's fallen staff. Feeling the power within it, Gilbert sensed it was a <em>staff of evocation</em> - quite powerful, and probably worth the spells it would take to reduce the magical implement to a more manageable size. But that was something to dwell on later, for as the heroes looked past the keep, they could see the small mountain that had until recently sat on the ground before Battershield Keep start to rise into the air. "It a spelljamming vessel!" Gilbert hazarded.</p><p></p><p>"Do we want to go after it?" Binkadink asked. "I can go grab my <em>carpet of teleportation</em> and we can chase it down in the dragonfly ship!"</p><p></p><p>"It'll be long gone by then," reasoned Finoula, "and we have no way of tracking it."</p><p></p><p>"We don't need to track it," called down Hagan from the battlements. "I can <em>teleport</em> us all directly onto its exterior - I got a good enough look at it I can drop us down on its surface no matter where it goes!"</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, let's do that," agreed Binkadink. "But if time's not of immediate importance, I want to get my armor on first."</p><p></p><p>"Same here," agreed Finoula - she'd been in the simple elven chain shirt she wore beneath her outer armor. They opted to get geared up for battle and meet in the courtyard. Aithanar and Obvious agreed to stay behind the help guard the keep, especially now that the chains holding the drawbridge were broken and the portcullis lay on the ground. The elven fighter opened the doors to the stables, letting out Taihar the dire fox and Grumps Junior the dire bear cub, to add to the impromptu reserve defense force. "You go on ahead," he told Finoula. "We'll keep everything safe back here."</p><p></p><p>Meeting back in the courtyard some minutes later, the spellcasters began their normal "prepping for battle" magical enhancements, something that had been denied them before this most recent fight. Gilbert linked everyone together mentally with a <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell, then cast a <em>stoneskin</em> spell on himself and Mudpie. <That better!> he said over the link. The rangers each cast <em>barkskin</em> spells on themselves and Finoula added a <em>longstrider</em> spell and a <em>protection from electricity</em> spell, in case they met up with any more of those weird ravid things. Binkadink received a much-welcome <em>fly</em> spell and a <em>freedom of movement</em> spell; the others wanted to keep their smallest - but most physically powerful, when it came to hand-to-hand combat - member of the team in the fight for as long as possible. Then Hagan cast the <em>teleport</em> spell that put them all up onto the top of the flying mountain that had just fled from their home.</p><p></p><p>A pair of enormous iron doors stood before them, set into the side of the mountain, each door a good 30 feet tall and a third as wide. "Locked," Darrien announced as he tried prying them open. (There were no door handles; it looked like they moved sideways into slots directly into the stone of the mountain-top.)</p><p></p><p>"Try this," Finoula suggested, passing her <em>chime of opening</em> to her fellow ranger.</p><p></p><p>That did the trick. With a tap of the magical chime, the doors slid open and the group saw the guard beast that had been put into position to await their arrival. It looked like a floating ball of multicolored energy, with various arcs of electricity coursing along its spherical body in random directions, flashing in different colors as they spasmed about. One of these arcs zapped out at Darrien, flashing blue and imbuing the half-elf ranger body with a blast of frigid cold. Darrien raised his bow and shot at the prismatic golem but his arrow passed straight through it, striking another set of giant-sized metal doors in the wall directly behind. <Another incorporeal foe!> Darrien warned the others over the link.</p><p></p><p>Knowing there was a good chance most of his spells wouldn't affect the prismatic golem, Hagan opted to cast a spell at a target he knew he <em>could</em> affect: one of the metal doors behind the golem. His <em>disintegrate</em> spell dissolved the metal door to nothing, revealing a strange tableau just behind. Up a few giant-sized steps was a large, open room, in the front of which stood Immoloth, basking in the glow of a enormous ball of white energy infusing his whole body with healing energy. And behind him sat Arzulio in an enormous, stone throne carved from the very rock of the mountain's interior. Hagan deduced this throne wasn't just ornamental but likely the control chair from which the eldritch giant could pilot the entire mountain-top, in the same way Jinkadoodle piloted the dragonfly vessel from his own magical helm.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink wasted no time on the prismatic golem, flying past it and up the stairs to swing his glaive at a startled Immoloth. (He did take a blast from the golem as he flew past it, being slightly singed by a reddish arc of energy.) The gnome ended up back on his feet well within the globe of healing energy and could feel the burns he'd just incurred starting to heal up.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert, back in his human form, spun to Finoula and cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell at <em>Tahlmalaera</em>, infusing the <em>variable energy longsword</em> with the <em>ghost touch</em> property. He informed the ranger what he'd done as he stepped back and let Mudpie form a 16-foot-tall elemental barrier between the wizard and those who might cause him harm. Grinning, Finoula stepped up to attack the prismatic golem, but not before it lashed out at Darrien again with a pair of arcing energy-appendages, a blue one infusing him with more cold energy and a violet one trying - and failing - to affect his mind with a form of magically-induced insanity. But then <em>Tahlmalaera</em> came slicing into the construct, causing an arc of yellow energy to strike Finoula and be absorbed harmlessly into her <em>protection from electricity</em> spell.</p><p></p><p>Arzulio stood up from the throne, grabbing up his bastard sword and advancing upon Binkadink; there was a sudden shuddering as the mountain-top, now pilotless, went into its default hovering mode. Immoloth was already bringing his own bastard sword to bear against the little gnome, angered that his time in the permanent breach to the Positive Energy Plane was being interrupted before he had fully healed up all the damage he'd taken back on the ground.</p><p></p><p>Darrien stepped back, hopefully out of range of the golem's writhing arcs of multicolored energy, and sent a flurry of arrows racing into it, but as expected at least half of them passed harmlessly through its incorporeal body. Malrin - herself also back in her normal elven form, so as not to tax Hagan in his attempt to <em>teleport</em> everyone here in one go - cast a <em>produce flame</em> spell an sent the ball of fire that popped into existence in her hand hurling up the steps and into Immoloth's thigh. Hagan cast his last <em>polar ray</em> of the day at the eldritch giant as well, as Binkadink pressed on with his attacks, his <em>reverberating glaive</em> singing its battle rhythm as he did so.</p><p></p><p>Behind Mudpie, Gilbert cast a <em>shield</em> spell on the two of them. The others seemed to be handling themselves okay so far; he'd look after his own protection for now.</p><p></p><p>The prismatic golem sent two arcs out to strike at Finoula (singeing her with a blast of fire) and Darrien (who wasn't, it turned out, quite far enough out of its reach but who managed nonetheless to fend off another <em>insanity</em> attempt). But then, before anybody else could strike out at their enemies, a voice called out loud an clear, "Hey, hold off everyone!"</p><p></p><p>It was Arzulio who had spoken, speaking for the first time in the Common tongue. He'd seen the way the battle was going, here in their own aerial lair where you'd think they'd have the advantage, but no, these heroes were getting the best of them in the short time they'd been fighting here. "Let's stop fighting - our attack was all Eldorath's idea! And he's dead now - how about we all just agree to go our separate ways, with no hard feelings, okay?"</p><p></p><p>Binkadink, the one furthest into the giants' lair, pressed the first point that came to mind. "You demolished the front of our keep's tower, and yanked out our portcullis! That's going to take a lot of money and hard work to repair!" At the same time, he transmitted over the link, <Are we okay with letting these guys live?></p><p></p><p><Let's hear what they have to say,> suggested Finoula, stepping away from the prismatic golem - which, she noticed, was no longer attacking either her or Darrien; apparently it had received the cease-fire orders from the eldritch giant within.</p><p></p><p>"A valid point," agreed Arzulio, lowering his bastard sword to his side and holding up his other hand to show it held no weapon. "I'll tell you what: why don't we turn over the gems Eldorath has amassed as his personal fortune over the years? That should pay for any damages our unfortunate attack has caused to your building."</p><p></p><p>"How much we talking?" called Gilbert from outside. He was willing to give the giants a temporary truce but he wasn't willing to trust their cease-fire enough to walk past the prismatic golem capable of striking out with a bevy of possible attacks.</p><p></p><p>"Thirty-two thousand pieces of gold," called back Immoloth.</p><p></p><p>"Not enough!" called back Gilbert, although that much would certainly be enough to fix up Battershield Keep - several times over, in fact. But he smelled desperation coming from the suddenly-eager-to-negotiate giants and was reasonably sure a trio of eldritch giants likely had more treasure than the equivalent of 32,000 pieces of gold. "Make it sixty thousand, then we talk!"</p><p></p><p>"<em>Sixty?</em>" sputtered Immoloth. To pay off that much to these adventurers, they'd have to tap into his and Immoloth's combined treasure stores - <em>deep</em> into them!</p><p></p><p>But Arzulio was looking at the big picture and wasn't going to lose his life trying to protect treasure that could be replaced over time, if they were still alive to do so. "Okay," he said, "I think we can manage to scrape that much together."</p><p></p><p>"But--" sputtered Immoloth.</p><p></p><p>"And we very offended you attack us!" Gilbert called from outside. "You smash our home, you try to kill us! We use up valuable resources fighting off your attack!"</p><p></p><p>"Again, a good point," soothed Arzulio. "But we welcome you to come forward and be healed of all damage we, uh, unfortunately were forced to inflict upon you by the orders of our former leader. Come, Immoloth will get out of the way while you all gather up in the sphere of Positive Energy. You, gnome, I'm telling the truth, aren't I? It's healing up your wounds, isn't it?"</p><p></p><p>"It is," admitted Binkadink. "And it feels kind of...tingly."</p><p></p><p>"C'mon, out," said Arzulio to his partner. "Go gather up the chests of gems." Scowling fiercely, Immoloth did as he'd been told while Arzulio set down his bastard sword and resumed his seat upon the control throne. "I'll return you back to your home, all safe and sound," he promised the heroes.</p><p></p><p>"And you will no longer attack anyone from our kingdom," Finoula said, climbing up the steep steps past the prismatic golem, who let her pass unimpeded.</p><p></p><p>"Upon my honor," replied Arzulio. "We'll stay well clear of your lands, this I swear!"</p><p></p><p>By the time Arzulio had brought the flying mountain-top to a gentle landing in its previous position just outside Battershield Keep, Immoloth had returned with two large, metal chests - so large, in fact, that Mudpie had to bring them down off the mountain in two trips. But a quick peek inside told them the giants had been on the up-and-up; by a quick estimate, Gilbert agreed the contents would come to around 60,000 pieces of gold in value.</p><p></p><p><You guys sure we not kill them anyway?> Gilbert asked them. <They fly around stealing stuff, they probably evil!></p><p></p><p><Gilbert!> chided Finoula. <We gave our word!></p><p></p><p><I don't think these guys will be giving us any further trouble,> Hagan assessed. <They look happy enough to slink away with their tails between their legs.></p><p></p><p>And that turned out to be true enough: none of the heroes ever saw Arzulio, Immoloth, or the flying mountain again.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>This adventure was a lot deadlier than some of the more recent ones had been: Binkadink, for example, the "meat shield" of the group with a whopping 261 hit points at full strength, was at one point brought down to a mere 53 hit points before being partially healed by Malrin. It was much more of a workout than they'd had lately and starting off the adventure out of the blue without the ability to cast their "combat prep" spells or even put on all of their armor (in some cases) put them at an initial disadvantage as well. But they seemed to enjoy it.</p><p></p><p>Of course, they further enjoyed the "preview" (plot hook) I gave them for their next adventure, especially when I assured Logan that Binkadink was <u>finally</u> going to get his prophecy revealed. But I'll save that for next time.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: One of my three Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" T-shirts, as the colors from the prism on the album cover was a good stand-in for the prismatic golem.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7952748, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 73: THINK POSITIVE[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Darrien, half-elf ranger 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Gilbert Fung, human wizard 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Hagan, half-orc sorcerer 19[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Aithanar Ivenheart, elven fighter 6[/INDENT] [INDENT] Malrin Ivenheart, elf druid 14[/INDENT] [INDENT] MARCI, humanoid construct[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 28 March 2020 - - - Gilbert Fung woke with a startled scream when the stone wall of his bedchamber on the second floor of the northwestern tower of Battershield Keep was smashed in. Chunks of stone crashed onto the floor, the front of which collapsed into the room beneath it - Binkadink's. The noise was loud enough to awaken all of the heroes asleep in the two northern towers. But not everyone in Gilbert's room was asleep. Mudpie, Gilbert's earth elemental familiar, was currently the size of a small pebble and sat unmoving on the top of the desk by Gilbert's bed, watching over his master as he had slept. And standing in the corner, MARCI had been in the middle of an internal diagnostic check when the wall went crashing in. She sent her red beam scanning over the massive hand that reached into the room, grabbed up the [I]Heward's handy haversack[/I] propped on the desk, and started to retreat back with its prize. "Non-human entity," the medical construct identified. "You think?" replied Gilbert facetiously as he rolled off the side of the bed and onto the floor, shielding his head as best he could with his arm from the dislodged rubble falling from the ceiling. In the room directly above him, Darrien leapt off his bed and grabbed for his bow and his tower shield. The latter, fortunately, had been enchanted with a [I]dancing[/I] property so it leapt upright of its own accord once activated and followed the ranger's movements, leaving both of his hands free to slide an arrow into his [I]Arachnibow[/I]. The bottom part of the half-elf's front wall was missing and from the moon's light he could see the enormous, armored torso of what must be a giant standing just outside the tower. The giant said something in his own guttural language - Darrien didn't speak Giant, so he had no idea what might have been said - and then the archer shot down through the gap into the giant's breast. In the top room of the northeastern tower, Aithanar Ivenheart was jolted out of his nightly reverie at the sound of the wall collapsing one tower over. He dashed to his feet while across from him an owl looked up from her perch. This was no pet, however, but Aithanar's older sister Malrin, a druid who spent much of her time in owl form. Aithanar grabbed up his longsword and raced downstairs to see what was going on, Malrin flapping behind him. By the time they got to the bottom floor, Hagan had opened the door to the Battershield Keep courtyard. The massive, wooden drawbridge was still in its raised position and the portcullis was down, so nothing had made it inside the keep's interior - that was good. But stepping into the courtyard, Hagan looked up at the rooftop of his own tower and decided to get a better view. Casting the words to a [I]teleport[/I] spell, he and Wezhley - his weasel familiar, alert and awake in his traditional spot on the half-orc's left shoulder - appeared on the tower and Hagan looked down to see not one, but two dark-skinned giants standing at the front of Battershield Keep. One had apparently just grabbed something from inside the northwestern tower and was showing it to his partner, who stood just before the raised drawbridge; both were on the inside of the keep's moat. But they looked to stand about 25 feet tall, easily large enough to cross the 10-foot span of the moat in a single step. Binkadink dodged falling rocks from Gilbert's crumbling floor and activated his own [I]dancing tower shield[/I] before grabbing up his trusty glaive. The top half of his front wall was missing and he could see a giant of some sort standing just outside. Clambering up the pile of broken stone to the hole in the front wall, he stabbed out with his glaive at the giant, the act setting his split blade reverberating and powering it up to overcome the potential resistances of whatever foe he might be facing. In the courtyard, Obvious woke with a start at the sudden noise and, looking around and seeing no immediate danger, hippity-hopped up the stairs along the eastern wall of the keep to reach the battlements. Then he scampered up to the front, coming to a stop beside Hagan. "What's going on?" the jackalope asked the sorcerer, and Hagan had gotten accustomed enough to the antlered rabbit's power of speech that it no longer startled him. "We're under attack by a pair of some kind of giant," he explained. As to where these giants might have come from, that was patently obvious to the half-orc, whose darkvision allowed him to see with perfect clarity the mountain-top parked in front of the keep. That certainly hadn't been there yesterday, he realized, but he set aside potential explanations as to its sudden appearance to deal with the crisis at hand. Gilbert had seen the giant's hand grab up his magical haversack and knew he had to get it back: his [I]Omnibook[/I] was inside its extradimensional storage space, the tome that served not only as his personal spellbook but also his reference library and handy scroll storage area! But that in itself was a simple process; casting a [I]limited wish[/I], the [I]Heward's handy haversack[/I] disappeared from the eldritch giant's hand and reappeared in Gilbert's. Shrugging it over his shoulder, Gilbert followed up with a [I]quickened wall of force[/I] blocking his room off from the hole in the wall leading to the outside air. Of course, having smashed one hole in the wall to get to Gilbert's haversack, it would be simple enough for the giant to make another such hole, but Gilbert wasn't planning on hanging around long enough for that to be a concern for him. He snatched up Mudpie and dropped him into a pocket of his robe, then felt around to make sure he had his [I]slingshot of rock shrinking[/I] at hand. A snarl of rage indicated the giant outside Gilbert's tower had realized the haversack was gone; he tentatively reached into the room again and felt the smooth, solid surface of the [I]wall of force[/I] blocking his way. That caused another growl of anger as he explained what had happened to his partner. The other giant reached up and tugged at the top of the keep's drawbridge, snapping the heavy steel chains holding it in place and pulling the whole thing down, then ripping the portcullis away and flinging it contemptuously on the ground behind him. The drawbridge lay in its lowered position across the moat, access to the keep's interior now as simple as stepping inside. Finoula stepped out of the northeastern tower, her longsword [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] in her right hand and her [I]flaming burst whip of thorns[/I] in her left. Through the open entryway she could see the eldritch giant standing before the northwestern tower, a massive bastard sword in his hand, and she blinked in momentary confusion - what exactly was going on here? Why were they under attack? At about this time, the confusion of the situation was compounded when all at once the [I]opal frog[/I], [I]giant mantis[/I], and [I]ebony fly[/I] manifested inside Darrien's room, while on one floor lower Gilbert's twin [I]foo lions[/I] similarly came to life. Each creature attacked its erstwhile master, although they were all severely hampered by the close quarters in which they found themselves - the bedrooms weren't big enough for this type of combat! "Make sure Helga's okay!" Finoula called to Aithanar and the elven fighter ran to obey. Helga Battershield was all alone in the southeastern tower, he knew, her husband Aerik having decided to spend some time with the men at the garrison in which the mercenary "Slayer" - in truth Galrich, the former King of Kordovia - was stationed. Aerik had wanted to ensure the recent restoration of Galrich's mental faculties was taking permanent hold and the half-orc barbarian was having no undue side effects from the demon-granted [I]wish[/I] spell that had recently wiped away the senility starting to take hold of his mind. Malrin flew to the top of the northeastern tower to see what was going on, landing upon the battlements beside Obvious. She couldn't speak while in owl form but she could see just fine the pair of giants standing outside the keep. Darrien shot a [I]web[/I] arrow at the floor of his room, encompassing his activated [I]figurines of wondrous power[/I] in its sticky strands. Then he grabbed up his [I]cloak of the white spider[/I], pulled it on, and used the [I]spider climb[/I] ability it granted its wearer to crawl out of the hole at the bottom of his front wall and clamber up to the rooftop, where he pulled himself up and over the battlements. Then, placing another arrow into his [I]Arachnibow[/I], he sent it flying down at the eldritch giant standing directly below him. Over on the other front rooftop, Hagan sent a [I]meteor swarm[/I] spell screaming down at the giant who had pulled down the drawbridge. The four meteors each struck the giant without fail, but the fiery blasts that exploded outward from the points of impact not only reached the other giant (which was good) but Binkadink as well (which was not as good - Hagan hadn't seen the gnome step out of the hole in his wall and thus hadn't activated the pair of rings they wore, which would have shielded the fighter from the effects of the sorcerer's spell). And Binkadink, having leaped into battle wearing only his sleeping garments, was not wearing the red dragonhide armor which would have likewise shielded him from most of the damage from the flames. As a result, the [I]meteor swarm[/I] did significant damage to both giants, but quite a bit to the little gnome as well. Undeterred, Binkadink swung his glaive at the giant before him, hoping to take advantage of the giant's distraction at having been singed so badly, but the attack seemed to do no damage; Binkadink himself had been badly singed by the spell and that might have been the cause of his uncharacteristically weakened strike. Obvious saw his rider in dire straits down below and scampered at a full sprint back across the battlements to the rear of the keep, to the stone steps leading back down to the courtyard. He saw Gilbert Fung suddenly appear on the rooftop of the one-story building in the back of the keep, situated between the back towers; the wizard had just cast a [I]dimension door[/I] spell to get him and Mudpie out of his sealed-off bedroom. He wasn't worried about MARCI; she could fend off the foo lions if they tried to attack her, which he doubted in any case - they had both immediately turned against him. Instead, he focused his attention on loading Mudpie into his magic slingshot and firing him at the ground below. Upon impact, Mudpie was restored to his 16-foot combat size and loomed before his master, ready to stop any giant who might try to approach. He didn't see either giant try to get inside the keep just yet - they were apparently being kept rather busy by the heroes at the front of the keep - but with his darkvision he saw the sudden sinking into the ground before him of a pair of large ovals, almost as if a great weight had suddenly been placed there. Mudpie realized the oval shapes were easily about the same size and shape as a pair of footprints made by either of the giants outside the keep...likely indicating the presence of a third such giant, this one [I]invisible[/I]. He instantly relayed this information to his master over the empathic link they shared. At the front of the keep, the two quite-visible eldritch giants roared in anger and pain and retaliated against their attackers. One sent his bastard sword swinging up at Darrien, catching him a quite damaging blow that sent him reeling, while the other took his vengeance on Hagan. But rather than use his sword, the giant merely reached up with a meaty fist, grabbed the half-orc sorcerer (causing Wezhley to leap off his master's shoulder in a panic), and threw him down onto the ground beside him with his full strength. Hagan felt the air explode out of his lungs upon impact and looked up at the massive giant towering above him, even now raising his booted foot to come crashing down on the half-orc - a move that would likely smash Hagan flat like a bug. But before the giant could do so, Hagan cast a [I]polar ray[/I] spell up at him and then quickly rolled away, tipping over the edge of the moat and into the (hopefully) concealing waters. Wezhley, looking down in worry at his master, dropped down from the battlements and started running to the back of the keep, so he could make his way down the stairs to join back up with him. Finoula couldn't see any of that from her perspective but she did have a good view of the other giant, so she used her [I]lightning amulet[/I] so send herself blasting through him as a bolt of living electricity. When she reformed into her elven shape outside the keep, she saw the second eldritch giant for the first time and shook her head in disbelief - there were [I]twice[/I] as many opponents as she had first thought! But as the giant staggered under Finoula's magical attack, Darrien was shooting arrows down at him as well. He was glad when he felt Malrin land upon his shoulder briefly in owl form and channel a healing spell through her talons during the brief contact; that was, in truth, well needed! And at the giant's feet, Binkadink attacked him with his glaive, his resolve restored (as well as his ability to deal massive damage with us weapon of choice). Obvious scampered down the steps, nose twitching as he picked up an unfamiliar scent - he was smelling the presence of the invisible eldritch giant, [B]Eldorath[/B], standing before Mudpie after having cast a [I]dimension door[/I] spell of his own to cross the distance in an instant. Gilbert, alerted to the unseen giant's presence by his faithful familiar, cast a [I]quickened fly[/I] spell but before he could get into the air and behind the back wall of the keep Eldorath struck, his massive form coming into view as his bastard sword struck out and smashed into the wizard. But while the blow altered the wizard's aerial path somewhat, he did manage to fly over the back wall and then, out of range of sight of the giant, cast a [I]rope trick[/I] spell in the air above him. Since it seemed these giants were after Gilbert's haversack - or, more likely, he realized, the [I]Omnibook[/I] stored within - he'd see what they did if he went somewhere they couldn't follow! But immediately after having cast his spell, he ordered Mudpie to sink down into the earth below; he didn't want his familiar getting into a fight he likely couldn't win on his own. With a frown of disappointment, Mudpie did as his master had bid him. Unable to see his target, Eldorath called forth a [I]flame strike[/I] spell to come crashing down upon the human wizard - the eldritch giant cleric had seen the aerial path Gilbert had taken when flying over the back wall and had a good guess of his general whereabouts, so an area of effect spell was the way to go. Judging from Gilbert's cry of pain from behind the keep, he'd apparently guessed close enough. At the front of the keep, both giants had decided to focus on Binkadink as he was right there on the ground with them. Finoula took the opportunity for another [I]lightning amulet[/I] blast, this time pivoting into both of her targets and reappearing off to the front side of the keep. She didn't realize it, but she landed a mere yard or so beside another invisible creature, this one a hybrid creature from the Positive Energy Plane combining the traits of a ravid and a xeg-ya. It struck out at the surprised ranger with a pair of electrical rays coursing out from its incorporeal body; the rays crossed the planes to strike the ranger in the material world. Finoula spun to face this unseen attacker and was amazed as what she saw as it popped back into view, the [I]invisibility[/I] spell wearing off at its attack. The creature had the appearance of a sinuous snake, its head draconic in form but more like the dragon they'd seen in Kozakura; it sported but a single, clawed hand and despite having no wings it hovered several feet off the ground. It hissed at her, the sound seeming almost like an electrical buzzing - but that might have been from the arcs of energy being generated from is serpentine back, even now forming back into whiplike rays like the ones that had just struck her. Darrien shot another cluster of arrows down at the giant who had smashed through his tower wall; of the two, the ranger held the greatest dislike for that one, since it had smashed up part of his bedroom floor. Malrin took the opportunity to fly down and apply a quick healing spell onto Binkadink, who by this time was in bad shape, as hurt as the druid could ever recall having seen him. She opted to use her most powerful spell, a [I]heal[/I] that sent positive energy coursing through the little gnome's compact body, regenerating burned flesh and knitting closed open cuts from the giants' swords. And then, no fool, she flew away and out of range of the giants' massive swords while Binkadink, with renewed vitality, sent his glaive stabbing into the giant directly before him. Sputtering water from his lips, Hagan pulled himself up out of the moat and onto dry land, away from the keep. Then he targeted the giant who had threatened to stomp on him, blasting him with another [I]polar ray[/I] spell. The giant was simultaneously under attack by Obvious, who brought his antlered head stabbing into the giant's legs as he turned to face his spellcasting attacker. Gilbert, staggering from the [I]flame strike[/I] spell, cast a [I]shapechange[/I] spell on himself and flew off to the western side of the keep; it was a hefty human wizard who started the maneuver but a pit fiend who ended it. Eldorath cast another [I]quickened dimension door[/I] and appeared in the spot Gilbert had just vacated, looked around for his foe, and spotted the pit fiend immediately. The giant had just tried taking out the [I]rope trick[/I] spell with a [I]dispel magic[/I] but had failed to overcome the wizard's spellcraft - apparently the owner of the coveted [I]Omnibook[/I] was quite a powerful opponent indeed! But by thus time, Eldorath's forces were themselves feeling much the worse for wear in this combat with these puny foes; who could have guessed they were so powerful themselves or equipped with so many magical weapons? The first giant activated a [I]dimension door[/I] spell, opting to return to the mountain-top interior to heal up his wounds. If Eldorath wanted that damned book so bad he was welcome to fetch it himself - but it wasn't worth [B]Arzulio[/B]'s life! The other eldritch giant, [B]Immoloth[/B], attacked Binkadink again with his sword. He was surprised at the little gnome's restored vigor; was that owl that flitted by him some sort of secret source of healing or something? That was hardly fair! Behind him, Finoula attacked the extraplanar ravid with her sword and whip, but was surprised to see her weapons pass through the floating serpent-dragon's body with seemingly no effect. With a sigh of frustration, she realized she was up against an incorporeal being. And yet the thing seemed to have no trouble striking corporeal creatures, at least when using its electrical tentacle-things, as evidenced by another pair of attacks on the ranger before the ravid-beast floated off in the direction of Eldorath, perhaps the result of a mental call. Having lost his primary target, Darrien started peppering Immoloth with his arrows. Malrin, seeing none of the heroes was currently in dire need of her healing spells, decided to help the team in a more offensive capability and wildshaped out of owl form and into the form of a tyrannosaurus rex. She bit at the startled giant, who had certainly not expected this kind of attack when he'd agreed to help Eldorath get that magical book he was so on about! And then, running up between the dinosaur's broad legs was that damned gnome and his damned polearm, even as the jackalope tried chewing through the giant's armor with its incisors. It, at least, wasn't having much success, but that didn't matter all that much - the other attacks were taking their toll and Immoloth had had enough; he [I]dimension doored[/I] his way back inside their mountain-top base, to heal himself back up before he even thought about further combat. Hagan cast another [I]polar ray[/I] spell, this time trying to take out the weird, draconic snake that was floating over towards the back of the keep. He was disappointed to see his spell pass harmlessly through the thing's body and started running after it. But Finoula wasn't giving up on her own attacks, even though she knew many of them would pass through the thing's body; she paced the incorporeal creature as it flew towards the back, stabbing it with [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] and sending her whip flicking in to strike it. Fortunately for the elven ranger, enough of her attacks connected that the serpentine thing writhed in sudden agony and collapsed to the ground, dead. Gilbert, in pit fiend form, flew straight up until he was out of reach of Eldorath's bastard sword, although he noticed the giant also carried some sort of staff. But, deciding to put an end to the giant's [I]dimension door[/I] capabilities, Gilbert cast a [I]dimensional anchor[/I] spell at him, a slight, greenish glow all around Eldorath indicating the spell's success. Snarling in fury, the eldritch giant cleric pointed at Gilbert with his staff and channeled a [I]chain lightning[/I] spell up at him. Fortunately for Gilbert, one of the many advantages of the pit fiend form (besides looking mighty damned impressive, he thought) was an inherent resistance to spells and in this case the electrical spell hit Gilbert full-on and fizzled away into nothingness. Eldorath snarled in fury, even more so when he realized the haversack had melded into the fat wizard's form when he'd taken on the devil's shape; he'd have to slay the human spellcaster to get him to resume his normal form before he could claim the prize stored within the extradimensional space of the pack. Darrien was now all out of visible opponents to shoot. But there was some sort of commotion coming from behind the keep, so he spun about and raced along the battlements to go see what was going on back there. Malrin had a similar thought, but she bent her reptilian head down and snapped Finoula up into her mouth - quite carefully - and ran at full saurian speed to the back of the keep, where another of these purple-skinned giants was trying in vain to get a [I]chain lightning[/I] spell to affect the pit fiend flying above, which Malrin knew must be Gilbert in a fiendish form. Binkadink hopped onto Obvious's back and the jackalope loped back into the courtyard of Battershield Keep, taking the steps up to the battlements and then a right along the back until he was about halfway between the two southern towers. Hagan took a more direct path, [I]teleporting[/I] to the top of the southeastern roof, where he met up with Wezhley, who was very happy to be reunited with his master again. Hagan bent down to allow his weasel familiar to scamper up his arm and onto his shoulder, then looked over the rooftops below to see what they were up against. Gilbert flew down and cast a [I]maximized vampiric touch[/I] spell on Eldorath, taking a sword hit as the price for doing so but coming out very much on the better side of that deal, for the spell not only drained the giant of some of his life force but added it to Gilbert's own. At his master's silent bidding, Mudpie popped back up out of the ground; Gilbert wasn't quite sure how he was going to deploy his familiar yet but he felt better about doing so now that there were a bunch more heroes surrounding the eldritch giant: Mudpie wouldn't be Eldorath's primary target. The giant gave a final try at a [I]chain lightning[/I] spell but it burned itself out harmlessly striking the pit fiend's protected form. But then Finoula dropped out of the tyrannosaur's mouth, raced up, and sent [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] in a lateral strike against the giant's leg while Darrien sent a wave of arrows down onto his head and his broad back. Malrin snapped at him with a head filled with teeth the size of short swords. And then from above, Obvious leapt off the top of the keep's battlements, landing gracefully behind the giant while Binkadink brought his glaive crashing down upon the enormous cleric. Eldorath staggered from the multi-pronged assault, then swung his own gigantic bastard sword in a flurry of strikes against Malrin, the biggest target before him and the easiest to hit. Deep furrows scored across her reptilian hide and she roared in pain, taking an involuntary step back away from the enraged giant. Two rays flashed out at the giant: a [I]polar ray[/I] from Hagan and a [I]ray of enfeeblement[/I] from Gilbert. Both struck true and Eldorath roared in pain from the frigid attack and fury at the weakening of his massive muscles. But the attacks continued unabated, arrows from Darrien from above and sword-strikes from below from Finoula, while Malrin cast a much-needed [I]mass cure medium wounds[/I] spell over the assembled heroes. Binkadink continued with his glaive-strikes while Obvious hippity-hopped around the flustered giant, allowing his rider to strike from wildly different directions in rapid sequence. Starting to panic at the overwhelming assault, Eldorath made an all-out attack on Malrin again, trying to cut her down to stop the continued healing and also to get her out of his way, for he was ready for a tactical retreat back to his flying mountain-top. Gilbert further weakened him with an additional [I]ray of enfeeblement[/I] spell, as weapons struck the giant from all directions and Hagan sent another [I]polar ray[/I] striking him in the head. Malrin ran off to the side to heal herself but the others carried on with the attack, until a final stab from Binkadink's extended glaive pierced Eldorath's body and brought him crashing to the ground, dead. With their last available foe slain, Gilbert landed back on the ground beside Eldorath and picked up the giant's fallen staff. Feeling the power within it, Gilbert sensed it was a [I]staff of evocation[/I] - quite powerful, and probably worth the spells it would take to reduce the magical implement to a more manageable size. But that was something to dwell on later, for as the heroes looked past the keep, they could see the small mountain that had until recently sat on the ground before Battershield Keep start to rise into the air. "It a spelljamming vessel!" Gilbert hazarded. "Do we want to go after it?" Binkadink asked. "I can go grab my [I]carpet of teleportation[/I] and we can chase it down in the dragonfly ship!" "It'll be long gone by then," reasoned Finoula, "and we have no way of tracking it." "We don't need to track it," called down Hagan from the battlements. "I can [I]teleport[/I] us all directly onto its exterior - I got a good enough look at it I can drop us down on its surface no matter where it goes!" "Yeah, let's do that," agreed Binkadink. "But if time's not of immediate importance, I want to get my armor on first." "Same here," agreed Finoula - she'd been in the simple elven chain shirt she wore beneath her outer armor. They opted to get geared up for battle and meet in the courtyard. Aithanar and Obvious agreed to stay behind the help guard the keep, especially now that the chains holding the drawbridge were broken and the portcullis lay on the ground. The elven fighter opened the doors to the stables, letting out Taihar the dire fox and Grumps Junior the dire bear cub, to add to the impromptu reserve defense force. "You go on ahead," he told Finoula. "We'll keep everything safe back here." Meeting back in the courtyard some minutes later, the spellcasters began their normal "prepping for battle" magical enhancements, something that had been denied them before this most recent fight. Gilbert linked everyone together mentally with a [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell, then cast a [I]stoneskin[/I] spell on himself and Mudpie. <That better!> he said over the link. The rangers each cast [I]barkskin[/I] spells on themselves and Finoula added a [I]longstrider[/I] spell and a [I]protection from electricity[/I] spell, in case they met up with any more of those weird ravid things. Binkadink received a much-welcome [I]fly[/I] spell and a [I]freedom of movement[/I] spell; the others wanted to keep their smallest - but most physically powerful, when it came to hand-to-hand combat - member of the team in the fight for as long as possible. Then Hagan cast the [I]teleport[/I] spell that put them all up onto the top of the flying mountain that had just fled from their home. A pair of enormous iron doors stood before them, set into the side of the mountain, each door a good 30 feet tall and a third as wide. "Locked," Darrien announced as he tried prying them open. (There were no door handles; it looked like they moved sideways into slots directly into the stone of the mountain-top.) "Try this," Finoula suggested, passing her [I]chime of opening[/I] to her fellow ranger. That did the trick. With a tap of the magical chime, the doors slid open and the group saw the guard beast that had been put into position to await their arrival. It looked like a floating ball of multicolored energy, with various arcs of electricity coursing along its spherical body in random directions, flashing in different colors as they spasmed about. One of these arcs zapped out at Darrien, flashing blue and imbuing the half-elf ranger body with a blast of frigid cold. Darrien raised his bow and shot at the prismatic golem but his arrow passed straight through it, striking another set of giant-sized metal doors in the wall directly behind. <Another incorporeal foe!> Darrien warned the others over the link. Knowing there was a good chance most of his spells wouldn't affect the prismatic golem, Hagan opted to cast a spell at a target he knew he [I]could[/I] affect: one of the metal doors behind the golem. His [I]disintegrate[/I] spell dissolved the metal door to nothing, revealing a strange tableau just behind. Up a few giant-sized steps was a large, open room, in the front of which stood Immoloth, basking in the glow of a enormous ball of white energy infusing his whole body with healing energy. And behind him sat Arzulio in an enormous, stone throne carved from the very rock of the mountain's interior. Hagan deduced this throne wasn't just ornamental but likely the control chair from which the eldritch giant could pilot the entire mountain-top, in the same way Jinkadoodle piloted the dragonfly vessel from his own magical helm. Binkadink wasted no time on the prismatic golem, flying past it and up the stairs to swing his glaive at a startled Immoloth. (He did take a blast from the golem as he flew past it, being slightly singed by a reddish arc of energy.) The gnome ended up back on his feet well within the globe of healing energy and could feel the burns he'd just incurred starting to heal up. Gilbert, back in his human form, spun to Finoula and cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell at [I]Tahlmalaera[/I], infusing the [I]variable energy longsword[/I] with the [I]ghost touch[/I] property. He informed the ranger what he'd done as he stepped back and let Mudpie form a 16-foot-tall elemental barrier between the wizard and those who might cause him harm. Grinning, Finoula stepped up to attack the prismatic golem, but not before it lashed out at Darrien again with a pair of arcing energy-appendages, a blue one infusing him with more cold energy and a violet one trying - and failing - to affect his mind with a form of magically-induced insanity. But then [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] came slicing into the construct, causing an arc of yellow energy to strike Finoula and be absorbed harmlessly into her [I]protection from electricity[/I] spell. Arzulio stood up from the throne, grabbing up his bastard sword and advancing upon Binkadink; there was a sudden shuddering as the mountain-top, now pilotless, went into its default hovering mode. Immoloth was already bringing his own bastard sword to bear against the little gnome, angered that his time in the permanent breach to the Positive Energy Plane was being interrupted before he had fully healed up all the damage he'd taken back on the ground. Darrien stepped back, hopefully out of range of the golem's writhing arcs of multicolored energy, and sent a flurry of arrows racing into it, but as expected at least half of them passed harmlessly through its incorporeal body. Malrin - herself also back in her normal elven form, so as not to tax Hagan in his attempt to [I]teleport[/I] everyone here in one go - cast a [I]produce flame[/I] spell an sent the ball of fire that popped into existence in her hand hurling up the steps and into Immoloth's thigh. Hagan cast his last [I]polar ray[/I] of the day at the eldritch giant as well, as Binkadink pressed on with his attacks, his [I]reverberating glaive[/I] singing its battle rhythm as he did so. Behind Mudpie, Gilbert cast a [I]shield[/I] spell on the two of them. The others seemed to be handling themselves okay so far; he'd look after his own protection for now. The prismatic golem sent two arcs out to strike at Finoula (singeing her with a blast of fire) and Darrien (who wasn't, it turned out, quite far enough out of its reach but who managed nonetheless to fend off another [I]insanity[/I] attempt). But then, before anybody else could strike out at their enemies, a voice called out loud an clear, "Hey, hold off everyone!" It was Arzulio who had spoken, speaking for the first time in the Common tongue. He'd seen the way the battle was going, here in their own aerial lair where you'd think they'd have the advantage, but no, these heroes were getting the best of them in the short time they'd been fighting here. "Let's stop fighting - our attack was all Eldorath's idea! And he's dead now - how about we all just agree to go our separate ways, with no hard feelings, okay?" Binkadink, the one furthest into the giants' lair, pressed the first point that came to mind. "You demolished the front of our keep's tower, and yanked out our portcullis! That's going to take a lot of money and hard work to repair!" At the same time, he transmitted over the link, <Are we okay with letting these guys live?> <Let's hear what they have to say,> suggested Finoula, stepping away from the prismatic golem - which, she noticed, was no longer attacking either her or Darrien; apparently it had received the cease-fire orders from the eldritch giant within. "A valid point," agreed Arzulio, lowering his bastard sword to his side and holding up his other hand to show it held no weapon. "I'll tell you what: why don't we turn over the gems Eldorath has amassed as his personal fortune over the years? That should pay for any damages our unfortunate attack has caused to your building." "How much we talking?" called Gilbert from outside. He was willing to give the giants a temporary truce but he wasn't willing to trust their cease-fire enough to walk past the prismatic golem capable of striking out with a bevy of possible attacks. "Thirty-two thousand pieces of gold," called back Immoloth. "Not enough!" called back Gilbert, although that much would certainly be enough to fix up Battershield Keep - several times over, in fact. But he smelled desperation coming from the suddenly-eager-to-negotiate giants and was reasonably sure a trio of eldritch giants likely had more treasure than the equivalent of 32,000 pieces of gold. "Make it sixty thousand, then we talk!" "[I]Sixty?[/I]" sputtered Immoloth. To pay off that much to these adventurers, they'd have to tap into his and Immoloth's combined treasure stores - [I]deep[/I] into them! But Arzulio was looking at the big picture and wasn't going to lose his life trying to protect treasure that could be replaced over time, if they were still alive to do so. "Okay," he said, "I think we can manage to scrape that much together." "But--" sputtered Immoloth. "And we very offended you attack us!" Gilbert called from outside. "You smash our home, you try to kill us! We use up valuable resources fighting off your attack!" "Again, a good point," soothed Arzulio. "But we welcome you to come forward and be healed of all damage we, uh, unfortunately were forced to inflict upon you by the orders of our former leader. Come, Immoloth will get out of the way while you all gather up in the sphere of Positive Energy. You, gnome, I'm telling the truth, aren't I? It's healing up your wounds, isn't it?" "It is," admitted Binkadink. "And it feels kind of...tingly." "C'mon, out," said Arzulio to his partner. "Go gather up the chests of gems." Scowling fiercely, Immoloth did as he'd been told while Arzulio set down his bastard sword and resumed his seat upon the control throne. "I'll return you back to your home, all safe and sound," he promised the heroes. "And you will no longer attack anyone from our kingdom," Finoula said, climbing up the steep steps past the prismatic golem, who let her pass unimpeded. "Upon my honor," replied Arzulio. "We'll stay well clear of your lands, this I swear!" By the time Arzulio had brought the flying mountain-top to a gentle landing in its previous position just outside Battershield Keep, Immoloth had returned with two large, metal chests - so large, in fact, that Mudpie had to bring them down off the mountain in two trips. But a quick peek inside told them the giants had been on the up-and-up; by a quick estimate, Gilbert agreed the contents would come to around 60,000 pieces of gold in value. <You guys sure we not kill them anyway?> Gilbert asked them. <They fly around stealing stuff, they probably evil!> <Gilbert!> chided Finoula. <We gave our word!> <I don't think these guys will be giving us any further trouble,> Hagan assessed. <They look happy enough to slink away with their tails between their legs.> And that turned out to be true enough: none of the heroes ever saw Arzulio, Immoloth, or the flying mountain again. - - - This adventure was a lot deadlier than some of the more recent ones had been: Binkadink, for example, the "meat shield" of the group with a whopping 261 hit points at full strength, was at one point brought down to a mere 53 hit points before being partially healed by Malrin. It was much more of a workout than they'd had lately and starting off the adventure out of the blue without the ability to cast their "combat prep" spells or even put on all of their armor (in some cases) put them at an initial disadvantage as well. But they seemed to enjoy it. Of course, they further enjoyed the "preview" (plot hook) I gave them for their next adventure, especially when I assured Logan that Binkadink was [U]finally[/U] going to get his prophecy revealed. But I'll save that for next time. - - - T-Shirt Worn: One of my three Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" T-shirts, as the colors from the prism on the album cover was a good stand-in for the prismatic golem. [/QUOTE]
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